Center for Social Concerns

Environmental Justice and Human Rights in the Aftermath of Katrina

AFAM 33601/CSC 33976

Seminar Learning Agreement

Immersion Dates: During Spring Break, Saturday March 8 - Sunday March 14, 2009

Exact dates and times to be decided

Size: 12 Students

Cost: $250 and $100 for New Orleans expenses

(online application will be availible sometime in the fall)

Application Deadline: Thursday, Jan. 22nd

Seminar Instructors: Dr. Richard Pierce, Angela Miller McGraw   Joseph Nava, and Nicholas Albares

Introduction

Set in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, this seminar will explore how impoverished communities in Louisiana were affected from the perspectives of environmental justice and theology.  Specifically, we will critically reflect on the historical, political, and economic issues that created a culture of poverty in these areas.  The course will also analyze the nexus between historical social inequalities and current environmental injustices.  To give students the tools to determine what environmental justice is, we will define and apply key concepts such as environmental racism, culture of poverty, justice, and equality and rights.  In conjunction with this task, we will assist students in the development of critical theological reflection by defining and applying the concepts of praxis, solidarity, and development/liberation.

This seminar encompasses two major components.  First, participants will begin their exploration by attending 4 pre-immersion class sessions.  These will entail presentations and group discussions, which will assist in fostering critical theological reflection on environmental justice issues.  Second, the immersion/community-based-learning component of this seminar will take place over a week during spring break 2009 in New Orleans.  The immersion process will be very intense because students will divide their days between service work with Operation Helping Hands (i.e. gutting flooded homes) and learning through participatory discussion with individuals and community-based organizations struggling against environmental injustice.  Operation Helping Hands is a volunteer program sponsored by Catholic Charities in Louisiana. 

While in New Orleans we will meet with community representatives from the Loyola Law Clinic, the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, the Xavier University theology department, the Oakville Community, and the Broadmoor Community Development Organization. These representatives will assist us in exploring (1) the issues involved in defending the housing and voting rights of working class and poor people in New Orleans; (2) the status of environmental legal/justice work that pre-existed and increased after Hurricane Katrina; (3) the theological convictions both aiding and impeding personal and communal sustainment after Katrina, in New Orleans and Mississippi; (3) and the effects of the Industrial Pipe Landfill on a local Louisiana community (Oakville).

Hence, this seminar will serve the purpose of presenting the view that all peoples have the right to a clean, healthy, and livable environment regardless of their social or economic conditions. 

Course Objectives

1. To provide opportunities for participants to experience the social, political, and economic contexts within which environmental injustice manifests itself through contact and participatory observation with community organizations.
2. To expose participants to the massive undertaking of the clean-up process in a post-Katrina New Orleans through volunteering with Operation Helping Hands.
3. To encourage critical reflection on the daily realities of the poor in New Orleans afflicted by environmental injustice in a post-Katrina setting.

Seminar Goals

1. Students will learn fundamental principles of environmental justice (EJ) and human rights (HR).
2. Students will become familiar with current themes and key concepts of 20th century theology that are pertinent to their contemporary context.
3. (a) Students will use EJ and HR principles to construct a framework for analyzing and understanding the events and impacts associated with Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
4. (b) Students will apply theological themes and concepts in order to provide a critical theological reflection on the recent history of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region.
5. Students will develop critical thinking skills that can be extended to their analyses and understanding of EJ and HR issues elsewhere in the country and in the world.

Course Requirements

This seminar is a one-credit Africana Studies course graded “S” or “U”.  To receive an “S” grade, the following must be completed in a satisfactory manner.  All requirements are to be completed during the spring semester.

1. The participant must attend and participate in all required orientation and follow-up classes.  Participants must obtain prior permission for an absence from the staff and student coordinators via email.
2. Participants are encouraged to work together to understand the implications of the required readings in the pre-immersion process through group discussions and consistent and quality class participation.
3. Three questions/topics pertaining to the readings for each session will be provided in the course packet. Participants are required to choose one question/topic, for which they will write a response (no longer than 1 page double-spaced). These responses are to be emailed to all seminar participants. Students may use this opportunity to include questions of their own for both the seminar coordinators and their fellow participants. The purpose of this exercise is to help facilitate discussion (1) by ensuring that each student has time to formulate his or her thoughts regarding at least one major discussion issue, and (2) by promoting students to respond both critically and constructively to one another’s ideas.
4. Participants are required to write a 6-10 page reflection paper as part of the service-learning experience.  The paper requirements may also be fulfilled by completing a special project such as a video, a web site, or a photo essay on a particular issue, etc.  Group projects may also be done as long as each member of the group makes a valuable contribution to the overall project. Approval from the faculty and student coordinators must be obtained for all special or group projects. 

Application Process

• The deadline is January 22nd, 2009 (online application will be availible sometime in the fall).
  Saint Mary's College students must contact Sally Burns for application and registration instructions.
• By completing the application you are agreeing to all requirements of the Environmental Justice and Human Rights Seminar.
  All applicants will be notified regarding seminar selection by email on or before Sunday, January 25, 2008. If you are applying to more than one seminar, you will receive a single email noting whether or not you have been selected to participate.

Criteria for Selection

• This seminar is open to any student in good standing at the University of Notre Dame or Saint Mary’s College.  Students agree to conduct themselves according to the policies listed in Dulac.  Students with a background in African-American/Africana Studies and graduate students are encouraged to apply. 
• All students will be required to become familiar with one another, current case law, and relevant Catholic social teachings through discussions of readings, personal experiences, and observations.

Course Registration

• You will receive email notification on a) whether you have been selected to participate in a seminar and b) which seminar you have been selected to participate in. (This circumstance applies if you have applied to more than one seminar.) Subsequently, the course instructor will email instructions on course registration, and you will need to register within the first seven days of the semester.
• Contact the Assistant Dean's office of your College if you are over the maximum number of credit hours (Maximum Hours Exceeded) allowed by your College. The assistant deans of your college will be able to grant special approval. Contact Sally Burns at the Center for Social Concerns if you have a class time conflict.

Fees and Expenses

• The fee for the Seminar will be $250, which will help to defray the costs of transportation, housing, and donations to agencies and host organizations. The fee will be assessed through student accounts after the final day to drop (see calendar, below). 
• If you are accepted into the Seminar, decide not to participate and notify the Center before the final drop day noted on the calendar, your student account will be billed a $40 cancellation fee. If you are accepted and decide not to participate after the final drop day, your student account will be billed the full $250. 
• Limited financial aid is available.  Financial aid applications are available via the Center for Social Concerns (contact Sally Burns). There is no penalty or disadvantage to your application if financial aid is requested.

Transportation and Personal Expenses

• We recommend that you bring an additional $100 for any personal items, snacks, or other items you may want to purchase.
• Students who receive University Driver's Training drive themselves to New Orleans using 7-passenger mini vans. Vans are rented through local rental agencies and are regularly serviced.

Withdrawal from Course

• Please notify the Seminar Director if extenuating circumstances prevent your participation in the Seminar. Final day to drop is Fri., Jan. 30th. To withdraw from this course, an Academic Course change form (obtained from the Center for Social Concerns), must be completed and signed by the Center's Director of the Seminars and Educational Immersions.
• Drops after the final drop day and/or failure to follow proper withdrawal from course procedures will automatically result in a grade of "U."   

CALENDAR SPRING 2009

Thurs., Jan. 22, 2009
Online application deadline.

Sun., Jan. 25
Acceptance confirmed by email. If you apply to more than one seminar, you will receive ONE email for the seminar you have been admitted into.

Wed., Jan. 28
Last date to register. You must register with ND's online system by the end of the day.

Fri., Jan. 30

Final day to drop. Change of course forms must be turned into the CSC

Tues., Feb. 10
REQUIRED: EJHR Class I - Time and Location TBA

Tues., Feb. 17
REQUIRED: EJHR Class II - Time and Location TBA

Tues., Feb. 24
REQUIRED: EJHR Class III - Time and Location TBA

Tues., Mar. 3

REQUIRED: EJHR Class IV - Time and Location TBA

Thurs., Mar. 5

Seminar Send-Off Mass, 7 pm; Alumni Hall Chapel

Sun., Mar. 8 - Sat, Mar. 14
Immersion; exact dates and time TBA

Tues., March 24
REQUIRED: EJHR Class V - Time and Location TBA

Questions about registration specifically may be addressed to Sally Burns at the Center for Social Concerns (574) 631-5293.